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Parliament Oak land zoning frozen

People rally against District School Board of Niagara's plans to sell its Parliament Oak property on the open market, after rejecting three offers from the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. (Supplied photo)

Whoever buys the property that housed Parliament Oak School in Niagara-on-the-Lake will be unable to apply to the town to change its institutionally zoned land use within the next year.

Town council passed a bylaw Monday night that will put a temporary freeze on proposed changes for all institutionally zoned lands.

The decision followed a discussion during an in-camera meeting regarding the property owned by District School Board of Niagara on King Street in the Old Town.

Three offers were made by the town to buy the property from DSBN last year, including one above asking price, but they were rejected.

The school board then put the property up for sale on the open market. Bids closed last Friday.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Hub Group appealed to Premier Kathleen Wynne last week to stop the sale of the 1.6-hectare property, which the town had hoped to rent to non-profit organizations.

Under the terms of the new interim control bylaw, no changes will be allowed for the use of the property and its 75-year-old building. The bylaw will be in effect for one year to enable the town to do studies on potential uses when the property changes hands.

The suggestion for passing this type of bylaw was made by Coun. Betty Disero at a council meeting last September through a notice of motion.

“An interim control bylaw will give us a year to sort out a vision for all the institutional lands,” said Disero Tuesday. “It, in itself, does not allow us the ability to acquire anything.”

“I think this a good thing for the town to do because of the many changes that are happening so quickly now,” she said. “We really have to work to get this done. We can’t just say we are going to study it.”

Disero, who served on Toronto city council for 18 years before moving to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 2009, said an interim control bylaw has been used in Toronto for many years for properties that are “under threat of rapid change, sometimes unwanted rapid change.”

She said the measure was usually enacted on a property by property basis as there is a clause in the provincial Planning Act that prohibits another interim bylaw on the same property for three years once the municipality has completed its study.

“So you want to get it right and limit the restriction to the properties that are at imminent risk,” she said.

Lord Mayor Pat Darte said the bylaw was unanimously approved by council to limit the use and development of institutionally zoned properties during the transition period to other uses.

“During the one-year review period, lawful uses may continue until the bylaw is repealed or lapses,” he said.

Town clerk Peter Todd said an interim control bylaw has been used in the past by the municipality.

In response to a request for feedback on council’s decision, DSBN spokesperson Brett Sweeney said, “The tender on the Parliament Oak property closed Jan. 5. All submissions are currently being reviewed.”

Education Minister Mitzie Hunter issued a statement Tuesday regarding the school property saying she understands that the local community is continuing to advocate for a community hub on the site.

“Our government continues to strongly support partnerships between school boards and municipalities that use surplus school space to support communities,” she said.

Hunter said she was disappointed that her offer of a provincial facilitator between the two parties was declined. DSBN voted against having a facilitator to continue talks with the town and decided to proceed with a sale by public tender.

“The municipality has had an opportunity to submit an offer in the public sale process, and I have been assured by the school board that it will be considered fairly,” Hunter said. “I trust that the DSBN will make the right decision in the best interest of their community.”